Any .260 Rem shooters....

Just getting tuned in to the noise about the 260...both in the deer hunting realm, and also as a long range round for fun...Thoughts on practicality, and expense of shooting...Not looking to throw out .308's, just want to hear what some of you think of the round. Someone said to get a 6.5 and be done with it.
I'm not looking for what else I should do, just sound advice and opinion on this
round only, please...Thanks in advance...

I have a Remington 700 in .260. I like it well enough. It seems like a very versatile round for hunting, varminting or long distance work. This is if you hand load. If you don't hand load, there aren't a whole lot of available choices.

It seems to be gaining some popularity. Hopefully ammo companies will start making some variety. I have tried 95, 120 and 140 grain bullets and a few different powders. It likes the Nosler Ballistic Tip (120 gr.) bullets on 36 gr. of Varget the best, so far.

Big_E

September 10, 2009, 07:57 PM

I definitely see one or several in my near future. Seems almost like the perfect hunting/long range round (for short actions) IIRC, it matches the trajectory of a .300 Win Mag but with less recoil and cost.

I also believe the .264'' bullets have one of the highest ballistic coefficients. If you already have a .308 it would be a great addition if you reload since you can resize the neck of the spent .308 brass and vice versa.

IMO, I would primarily use .260 R. for a target rifle and hunt with my .243 and .30-06 but thats just me. Eventually I will get to the point of not just deciding what I want to hunt but, what rifle will use for specific game.

targshooter

September 10, 2009, 07:58 PM

I've had a Ruger 77 in .260 Rem for about 4 years. Shoots the 140 grain Remingtons very well, just over 1 MOA. Shoots the 160 Hornady to same point of impact at 100 yards. This groups about 1.5 MOA. No recoil, great penetration.

Ol` Joe

September 10, 2009, 10:50 PM

If you handload the 260 is a fantastic deer/medium game cartridge. I use the Nosler 120 gr BT or Hornady 129 gr SP for whitetail with excellent result so far. The heavier wgt offer a little penitration but, I`ve never recovered a bulllet yet for game.
The 6.5x55 is its ballistic twin in a slightly longer action. Both are plenty for anything under big bears here in the states IMO.

pdd614

September 10, 2009, 11:10 PM

i shoot the 260's twin, 6.5x47 lapua, and freakin love it. couldn't be happier. 8.3 mils of elevation to 1055 from a 100 yard zero with varget and 123 scenars. add to that very little recoil these rounds make for great days in the field. also working up loads with the 142 smk while i wait on my 130 jlk's. match bullet choices don't get any better than the 6.5.

Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow

September 10, 2009, 11:16 PM

I'm a *newbie* .260 shooter (only had the rifle a little while and taken it to the range once so far), so I have nothing to report yet in terms of actual measured groups or game on the ground, other than just what we all know - it looks great on paper as an all-purpose round. Gonna load up some Speer Hot-Cor 120s and Hornady SST 129s before rifle season and see how one of them does on deer (whichever one proves more accurate in my rifle). I'm thinking that the Hot-Cor 120s will probably end up my go-to bullet for this round/rifle, just due to flat-based bullets tending to be more accurate, but we'll see.

Last year I killed the biggest deer I ever got with a 6.5x55mm with factory Federal 140s, but in hindsight should have gone with a 120-ish round - the 140s were not very explosive and made only a small exit hole; very poor blood trail. But, OTOH, the deer did only go about 45 yards.

rangerruck

September 11, 2009, 12:00 AM

If you are a hunter, this has got to be the most versatile round out there. everything from long distance pdogs, with some lightning fast light bullets, all the way up to some 140 or 160's if you can find them, for 1000 yd shooting, and bringing down elk and big deer and mulies and such.

I won the 2006 Steel Safari outright with my .260. 2007 won Unlimited class. I won the 2007 Camp Guernsey Invitational with my AWP in 6.5x47. Used my .260 (orig barrel) to win the Aug 2009 Sporting Rifle match in Raton, and same gun for 2nd in Sept.

My wife loves the .260rem. She has been using it with great success for about 5 or 6 years. We had to track one of her deer one night. It went about 20 ft and roll downed the hill another 30 ft.

She has learned to "thread the needle" so to speak with that little rifle( Ruger Compact) do to meat damage. I know any rifle will cause damage, but it seems that this one detroyed the shoulder.

Her first shot was 108yds. I had explained to her that not all shots are DRT. Well she touched the trigger and the deer was DRT.

Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow

September 11, 2009, 09:54 AM

I move to promote Zak from demi-god to full-blown diety - any seconds? We're not worthy! :D

FLNT4EVR

September 11, 2009, 10:18 AM

I have a .260 in the Rem. Model 7 CDL. It 's a great little rifle. I load and shoot everything from 85 grn hp to 160grn sp. The most accurate load so far has been the 130grn accubond over an almost max load of reloader 19. Many shooters at my gunclub throw their brass away.I collect their .243 and 7mm-08 and resize them to 260 ,I don't have either one of those caliber rifles ,so I don't have to worry about using the wrong ammo.This little Remington has become my goto rifle for all my hunting from varmints to deer and black bear.

Ol` Joe

September 11, 2009, 12:06 PM

Gonna load up some Speer Hot-Cor 120s and Hornady SST 129s before rifle season and see how one of them does on deer (whichever one proves more accurate in my rifle). I'm thinking that the Hot-Cor 120s will probably end up my go-to bullet for this round/rifle, just due to flat-based bullets tending to be more accurate, but we'll see.

Dr Tod
Do yourself a favor and try a box of 6.5mm 120gr Ballisitic Tips. They have been scary accurate in every 260 Rem (2) and 6.5x55 (4) I`ve owned.
Nosler has redesinged these (some 1/2 dz times) with a toughter core and jacket and has reached a point where they are IMO one of, if not the best, bullets for deer sized game in this caliber & wgt. There have been reports of elk and moose taken with it over on the 24hourcampfire.com useing them in the 6.5-06 and 6.5x55, along with the 120gr 7mm version and a couple others. They definately are not the originals we 1st shot 20 yrs ago.
The 129 gr Hornady SP is another. I`ve shot 5-6 whiteatil with them and have never recovered a bullet. One, a doe, was hit at ~75/80yd from a 260 - @~2800 fps muzzle vel - a couple ribs up from the rear of the rib cage and angled through the rumen, liver, a corner of the stomach, then exited the off side rear ham leaving a quarter sized hole. Only a rib was hit for bone, but it traveled a good 2 ft through meat and food packed rumen/stomach, and kept going. The deer jumped and fell about 20 yds from where it was hit. I can`t fault that performance at all!
I`ve never had the accuracy with the SST I get with the SPs in my limited testing. Others have a lot better results then I though so take that with a grain of salt. The way the std Spire Point works on game, the good accuracy I get with them, and 2/3 lower cost have me convinced they are just fine for my needs over the SST though.

Let us know how your 260 did after season, what ever you decide to use.:D

rangerruck

September 11, 2009, 12:41 PM

not being a handloader of this, it appears that you can almost crank up the lighter bullets out of this, all the way up to 243 speeds, that is just awesome!!!
Do any of the handloaders for this out there, see very good accuracy results, with a lighter bullet say in the 90 to 110 grain area?

Will Fennell

September 11, 2009, 01:05 PM

I'm shooting the .260 in a SAKO GreyWolf for deer and hogs, and having great performance[both accuracy wise and performance on meat] with 130 AccuBonds. Couldn't be happier. I'm starting to play with a .260 Sako Varmint model for long range shooting and getting great results so far with 123 Scenars.

I've had best results with Nosler brass and H4350. The brass is expensive, but is worth it to me:rolleyes:

waterhouse

September 11, 2009, 05:53 PM

When Zak wrote his article I looked into the .260 and I believe only Remington had brass, which wasn't highly thought of. I haven't paid much attention since then. Is anyone else making it now, or is the best bet to resize other brass? Sorry for the newbie question, I've only reloaded for really common calibers.

Zak Smith

September 11, 2009, 05:55 PM

The Rem brass is so/so. Some batches seem to be Ok; some are junk.

Nosler is making good brass.

You can easily form .260 brass from any .243 brass, usually with no extra steps other than necking up.

pdd614

September 11, 2009, 10:07 PM

the brass issue was the whole reason i went with the x47. Lapua has really outdone themselves with that brass. I know i could have taken 243 lapua brass and made 260, but i have a lot less chance of getting my x47 brass mixed up with my 308 brass.

either way, i couldn't be happier since i made the switch to 264.

Tacbandit

September 11, 2009, 10:08 PM

Thanks, Zak, and everybody...Don't think I can miss on this one....Great info, and pix...

Zak Smith

September 11, 2009, 10:11 PM

With the 6.5x47, just watch your pressure. If you're matching or beating a 140 @ 2800 fps (ie a standard .260 load and 100 fps over factory 6.5x47 ammo) with it, you're operating at higher pressure than intended and you will likely burn out your throat quickly. A friend of mine did his x47 barrel in less than 1000 rounds (and less than one year) shooting 130's at 2950 or something crazy.

I'm at 3 years and probably over 3000 rounds in my .260 barrel.

-z

pdd614

September 11, 2009, 10:22 PM

will do Zak. I'll keep an eye out, but I already have another barrel on order just in case. I will be getting near that 1k mark in the next couple months. I figured this barrel wouldn't last too long with the long and fast strings I shoot.
the best part is all the fixed cost of my setup are done, and all it comes down to is powder, primers, bullets and barrels. life is good.

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae65/pdd614/100_3987_2-1.jpg

Dannix

September 12, 2009, 12:04 AM

I got interested in the .260 R when Sniper Central started talking about it. I'm currently a pistol and lever gun guy, relatively new to the gun world, but I'm still eying a .260 bolt action even though I'm starting to lean more towards an AR in 6.5 Grendel instead.

Afy

September 12, 2009, 08:28 AM

I've shot the .260 quite a bit, and it is an excellent cartridge. I could average 3-4 1/2 MOA at 100 m, and then need to clean.

However in the quest for ever increasing accuracy... I have switched to 6 MM BR recently. Though I still do have the .260 and spare barrel, for the time being.. 6br.
These are results from a barrel with 2700+ though it at 100 m in gusting wind conditions.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/afy08/IMGP0622-1.jpg

All measurements are edge to edge.

Ateam-3

September 12, 2009, 09:49 AM

I think this is a great cartridge. I have two rifles chambered in 260 and I enjoy both. I think you will like the chambering, and the only downside to the 260 is availability of ammo. Around here (NC), you cannot find factory ammo too easily. This is not a problem as I reload. If you reload, you will enjoy shooting this round and the costs will be similar to other standard rifle cartridges. My best groups have been with IMR 4831 powder pushing Nosler 120gr BT's.

waterhouse

September 12, 2009, 02:47 PM

From a hunting standpoint, does the .260 give up anything on North American game to something like the .308? In other words, every animal that it is generally accepted that you can use a .308 on, you can use .260 on, correct?

9mmepiphany

September 12, 2009, 06:08 PM

^^^

well, you do give up some recoil ;)

Tarvis

September 12, 2009, 06:16 PM

Deleted

Zak Smith

September 12, 2009, 07:42 PM

6.5x55 has killed moose in Europe for 100 years. The .260 is basically equivalent, so I'd say "no."

natman

September 13, 2009, 06:19 AM

From a hunting standpoint, does the .260 give up anything on North American game to something like the .308? In other words, every animal that it is generally accepted that you can use a .308 on, you can use .260 on, correct?

The 6.5 with a 140 grain premium bullet is a very useful combination. However, if I had to pick for one for something really big like elk or moose, I'd go with a 180 grain 308. Yes, a 180 grain 308 has slightly less SD, but I suspect that penetration would be adequate nevertheless. 400 FPE greater muzzle energy, 37% greater frontal area and 40 grains more bullet weight do count for something.

rangerruck

September 13, 2009, 06:37 AM

right, but I thought we were looking here for the combo effect of the 260; as a great long distance shooter, plus a switch to hunting anything that trots around N. America. this is why I don't count the 6- rounds such as br, xc, etc.
Now then, I have not read much at all on the 6.5x47; how does this round stack up against the 260 for accuracy and distance? Where does the case evolve from? If the 260 round is good for 1000 yds, then since I get the feeling the x47 is smaller, should we limit it to 600 yds?
Would you say that, if you stayed 5% below max speeds on both, which do you believe would have a longer bbl life? I am also assuming that muzzle energy on these two rounds would have to be very close, so that hunting with the x47 would not be considered a compromise, am I right?

Zak Smith

September 13, 2009, 02:24 PM

I did a heads up comparison article on the three 6.5mm mid size cartridges - I posted the link above. I also have several 6.5x47 articles on my site.

At similar pressures, the 6.5x47 is down 100-150 fps with 140-gr-class bullets. You can load it higher (the case will take it anyway) but barrel life will suffer.

I wouldn't put the 6.5x47 at a 400 yard disadvantage (for target) as you propose.